Will Poland soon have a total ban on abortion?

Polish pro-choice activists have called on all Polish women to strike on October 3 in protest at the planned abortion ban. The country's parliament on Friday passed a bill stipulating jail sentences for women who terminate a pregnancy. The legal amendment was set in motion by a petition. Poland is now the scene of an ethical war that is also being waged in the press.

Polish women, fight against the hell you face!

The liberal daily Gazeta Wyborcza warns that the abortion ban could have catastrophic repercussions and supports the call for women to strike on October 3:

“The consequence of this law will be the persecution and punishment of women who terminate a pregnancy (and even those who suffer a miscarriage). And not just the doctors, but husbands, partners and friends who supported this decision also face prison. This means that the number of illegal abortions often carried out under life-threatening conditions will rise. Only well-off Polish women who can afford to pay a few hundred euros for a legal and safe abortion abroad can escape this hell. … In a democracy strikes are one of the strongest ways of exerting political pressure. And we believe the time for this has come.”

Don't believe Gazeta Wyborcza's lies!

The pro-government daily Gazeta Polska Codziennie reacts directly to Gazeta Wyborcza's call to arms saying that it should adhere to the text of the legislative project:

“Since the petition that calls for a ban on killing children became public, not a day has passed without the project and its authors being manipulated and discriminated against. And in the last two weeks this trend has become even more pronounced. … All we can do is to call on all those dealing with this project publicly not to read the mud slinging from the Czerska [where Gazeta Wyborcza has its main offices] but the original text. Then they will see that this project is not an order to punish mothers who have killed their children. Nor will it curtail prenatal examinations or force women to sacrifice their lives for unborn children.”